Amazon squeezed Levi's and other brands to hike prices on rival sites, California AG says
Newly unsealed court filings detail alleged price-fixing coordination between Amazon and vendors to raise consumer prices on competing platforms
SOPA Images / Getty Images
California Attorney General Rob Bonta secured the public release Monday of a largely unredacted court filing that describes Amazon $AMZN coordinating with vendors to raise consumer prices across competing platforms.
The filing, submitted in San Francisco Superior Court in support of a preliminary injunction, includes internal communications in which Amazon directed vendors to "fix," "correct," "increase," or "raise" prices on other retailers' websites. Vendors who did not comply faced penalties, including advertising restrictions, financial compensation demands, or removal of their products from Amazon, according to the filing.
Related Content
Among the specific examples: Amazon contacted Levi Strauss to pressure Walmart $WMT into raising the price of Easy Khaki Classic pants from $25.47 to $29.99, according to GV Wire. A Levi Strauss employee subsequently emailed Amazon, "I'm really hoping we can show this as a proof case so we can resolve issues going forward," according to The Los Angeles Times. The filing also describes Amazon pressing Home Depot $HD to raise fertilizer prices, pushing AbbVie subsidiary Allergan to get Walmart to charge $16.99 for eye drops rather than $13.59, and working to end a price match with Chewy for pet treats. An intermediary merchant wrote about the Chewy situation, "Prices that went up on Amazon immediately went up on Chewy. Overall, this looks like it's working!"
"Amazon is working to make your life more unaffordable," Bonta said in a statement. "The company is price fixing, colluding with vendors and other retailers to raise costs for Americans beyond what the market requires — beyond what is fair."
In a statement, Amazon dismissed the legal motion as political theater, arguing that California filed it more than three years into the lawsuit and that the evidence cited had been in the state's possession for years. The company also pointed to its pricing record, noting that independent assessments routinely rank it as the least expensive major online shopping destination in the country.
The lawsuit was originally filed by Bonta in 2022.
Amazon has faced other legal pressure in recent years. The Federal Trade Commission separately alleged that Amazon tricked almost 40 million customers into signing up for its Prime subscription service and made cancellation deliberately difficult — a case that resulted in a $2.5 billion settlement. That matter is separate from the California antitrust case, which remains on track for its 2027 trial.